GAINESVILLE, Ga. – Paced by sophomore Jessica Rathbone, who has earned All-America honors for the second time in as many seasons, the Anderson women's golf team moves on to medal match play at the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championships after capturing the second seed, Thursday afternoon.
The fourth-ranked Trojans will face nationally second-ranked Lynn in the NCAA Division II National Quarterfinals, Friday morning, with the winner moving on to compete in the national semifinals against the winner of third-seeded Limestone and sixth-seeded West Texas A&M tomorrow afternoon.
North Georgia and the Greater Gainesville Sports Alliance are hosting the tournament on a par-72, 6,004-yard Chattahoochee Golf Club layout.
"We couldn't be more proud of our AU women golfers," said Anderson Director of Golf Danny Neal. "They played solid golf throughout the day and steadied the ship when necessary - behind only the top-ranked team in the country. We are the second seed of the final eight teams left. Obviously, we hope to win and play a second match in the afternoon to try and reach the finals on Saturday. Special kudos to Jess (Rathbone) for finishing the stroke play portion in fifth place and getting named a First-Team All-American by the WGCA."
The fourth-ranked Trojans posted the second-lowest round of the day and climbed up two spots to finish 10 strokes behind top-ranked and defending national champion Dallas Baptist, who claimed the No. 1 seed for match play.
Third-ranked Limestone finished stroke play in third place, with Lee slipping two spots and taking the fourth seed. Barry finished in fifth place, just one shot behind the Flames, while West Texas A&M moved up a spot into sixth place. Lynn was six shots further back in seventh place, with Findlay taking the eighth and final spot – just one stroke in front of ninth-place Henderson State, two shots ahead of Indianapolis and only five strokes in front of Grand Valley State.
Texas A&M Commerce and Colorado Christian shared 12th place, while Central Missouri and Rogers State finished in a tie for 14th place. Missouri-St. Louis, Texas A&M International and Tiffin finished 16th, 17th and 18th, respectively.
Academy of Art's Anahi Servin posted a final-round 2-over-par 73 to win the individual national championship by four strokes over runner-up Olivia Mitchell (71-73-71=215). Dallas Baptist's Jordan Karrh (74-69-73=216), who jumped 13 spots up the leaderboard on Wednesday, shared third place with Lee's Supuschaya Srinchantamit (72-71-73=216).
Rathbone, who carded five birdies on the afternoon, including four straight on the back nine, finished just one shot behind in fifth place after posting her second consecutive even-par 72.
Freshman Kennedy McGaha finished in a five-way tie for 14th place, with junior Emma Charles leaping 10 spots and claiming a share of 22nd place. Senior Kerington Lamb climbed nine spots into a share of 30th place after posting her third consecutive 4-over 76, while senior Victoria Hall jumping 12 spots into a tie for 67th on the strength of a 4-over 76.
The top eight teams based on 54-hole scores were placed into a bracket and seeded, with the team quarterfinal and semifinal rounds on Friday and the finals occurring on Saturday.
Quarterfinal Pairimgs:
#1 Dallas Baptist vs. #8 Findlay
#2 Anderson vs. #7 Lynn
#3 Limestone vs. #6 West Texas A&M
#4 Lee vs. #5 Barry
The teams will compete in head-to-head medal play (stroke play over 18 holes and low score wins).
Friday's quarterfinal medal match play is slated to get underway at 8 a.m., with the second-seeded Trojans squaring off against No. 7-seeded Lynn, with the semifinals set for tomorrow afternoon.
2 Anderson 295 300 299 894
5 Jessica Rathbone 73 72 72 217
T14 Kennedy McGaha 73 74 76 223
T22 Emma Charles 73 78 75 226
T30 Kerington Lamb 76 76 76 228
T67 Victoria Hall 77 82 76 235
Team Rd 1 Rd2 Rd3 Total To Par
1 Dallas Baptist 296 293 295 884 +20
2 Anderson 295 300 299 894 +30
3 Limestone 307 286 305 898 +34
4 Lee 297 293 309 899 +35
5 Barry 299 297 304 900 +36
6 West Texas A&M 304 294 303 901 +37
7 Lynn 298 297 312 907 +43
8 Findlay 304 302 307 913 +49
9 Henderson State 304 304 306 914 +50
10 Indianapolis 310 304 301 915 +51
11 Grand Valley State 312 301 305 918 +54
T12 Texas A&M – Commerce 306 305 309 920 +56
T12 Colorado Christian 301 304 315 920 +56
T14 Central Missouri 310 304 311 925 +61
T14 Rogers State 303 315 307 925 +61
16 Missouri - St. Louis 312 310 311 933 +69
17 Texas A&M International 315 307 316 938 +74
18 Tiffin 317 322 315 954 +90
NOTABLES
• The medal match portion will be scored by the cumulative number of strokes won by rather than the number of holes won. For example, a player "up 3" means that the golfer is up three strokes, not three holes. The player up by the most strokes after 18 holes wins the match and earns a point for their team. All five golfers on the team will compete for points, meaning the team with at least three points will advance to the semifinal round.
• During quarterfinal and semifinals: if a team match is tied after all five individual matches, the total strokes of the five players from each team will be calculated with the winning team having the fewest strokes. If still tied, the tied match(es) will play a sudden-victory playoff hole to determine the advancing team. If still tied after sudden-victory, the match(es) will continue play until a winner is determined.
• Five of the eight teams in the quarterfinals are from the South Region.
• AU's first- and second-round 595 was the 16th lowest 36-hole score in program history.
• The Trojans' three-round 894 marked the sixth-lowest 54-hole score in program history.
• Jessica Rathbone's 3-day 217 marked the 8th-lowest 54-hole score in school history.
• Victoria Hall competed as an individual at the 2019 National Championships.
• Emma Charles competed as an individual at the 2021 National Championships.
• Dallas Baptist is the defending national champion.
• Indianapolis was seeking its third title in seven years.
• Barry won the 2017 National Championship.
